Reactions
by tribute324
Summary: The gang has found Pony's theme. Pony has been very depressed, and the gang is hoping that reading it will help Pony work through everything, before it's too late. Please read and review! Helpful criticsm is welcome. I do not own the outsiders.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey!**

**So I love the outsiders and I had read a few "gang reads the theme" stories, so I thought I would try to make my own. Fair warning this is not like any other stories of this kind. Pony is very, very depressed and the gang is hoping that reading his theme will help him before it is too late. Let me know what you think. I am thinking of doing these stories for a few other series but I wanted to try it out with this story first. **

Ponyboy walked in after a very long week at school. He just couldn't focus on anything. Nothing was worth anything anymore, not without Johnny and Dally. The rest of the gang knew he was struggling, and had a plan to help him, but he didn't know it.

Darry and the rest of the gang had been home all day, getting ready for Pony to come home. Soda had searched their room, and found the theme Pony had written for English last week. There was a big A on the front of it. Pony's grades were still slipping lower than usual, but this theme, had at least put him at a passing grade.

Pony boy walked in and the entire gang (or what was left) was sitting in the living room, which wasn't out of the ordinary. Then he glanced again and saw his theme laying on the table. He got ready to bolt but two- bit and Soda had him cornered.

"Pony, you never told us what you wrote in your theme. We were just curious. We swear we waited for you to get home, to make sure it was okay with you if we read it." Soda explained. He was worried about his baby brother, and he wanted to know what had happened to him.

"I don't like the idea of you guys reading it, because everything is in there, even the stuff I don't want you to know, but I know you would just read it anyway, so there is no point in saying no" Pony said, taking a seat on the couch next to Darry.

"Okay, I will read first." Darry said.


	2. Chapter 2: Reading chapter one

**Okay I hope you liked the first chapter. Here is the first real chapter.**

**I do not own the Outsiders**

"Chapter 1", Darry read.

"**When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home."**

"Sweet, this is from Pony's point of view." Two-bit commented

"**I was wishing I looked more like Paul Newman- he looks tough- and I don't"**

"Yeah you do Pone, especially now that you don't have blond hair anymore." Soda said.

"I still think your ugly as all get out." Darry said. Soda hit him in the face with a pillow.

"**But I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light- brown, almost red hair, and greenish- gray eyes. I wish they were more grey, because I hate most guys with green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in the back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides, I look better with long hair."**

"You proved that to us pony. You just don't look the same with short hair." Darry agreed.

"**I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway, for no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can get into them and live them with the actors."**

"Pony, you should never walk home alone. Any one of us would have come and picked you up." Soda said. Pony nodded, knowing he should have called. If he had, he wouldn't have gotten jumped.

"**When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way. I mean, my second oldest brother Soda,"**

"Hey I'm mentioned!" Soda exclaimed.

"**Who is sixteen- going- on –seventeen, never cracks a book at all, and my oldest brother Darrel, who we call Darry,"**

"And there you are!" Soda called out to Darry.

"**Works too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture, so I'm not like them. And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world who did, so I loned it."**

"Pony, you are not the only person who likes that kind of thing. Lots of people do, heck I would love to have the time to read as much as you do." Darry told him.

"Hey, next time you get off early, we can go see a movie."

"Sounds good."

"**So da tries to understand, at least, which is more than Darry does."**

Darry grimaced at this. He knew he and Pony didn't have the best relationship, but he was trying to make it better.

"**But then, Soda is different from anybody; he understands everything, almost. Like he's never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is,"**

"Darry scowled deeper. He really didn't like the fact that Ponyboy felt this way about him. He made a point to talk to him about that.

"**Or treating me as if I was six instead of fourteen. I love Soda more than I've ever loved anyone, even Mom and Dad."**

Soda was happy his brother felt that way about them. It was also a clue to just how bad off Pony was. He used to come and talk to him about everything, but he had barely spoken to him, other than the usual small talk. It was really worrying him.

"**He's always happy-go- lucky and grinning, while Darry's gone through a lot in his twenty years, grown up too fast. Sodapop'll never grow up at all. I don't know which is the best. I'll find out one of these days.**

"Well Pony, I'll tell ya. It's best to just grow up at a slow pace. Don't grow up to fast, but don't stay a child forever ya hear?" This surprisingly came from Steve. It actually shouldn't have been. Pony and Steve still didn't like each other, but they had been trying their hardest to be better friends.

"Thanks, Steve." Pony replied.

"**Anyway, I went on walking home, thinking about the movie, and then suddenly wishing I had some company. Greasers can't walk alone too much, or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot, if you know what I mean.**

"Hehe, yeah, no kidding." Everyone in the room agreed with Pony. They didn't mind being greasers, but they could do without the name callin' and jumpin'.

"**We get jumped by the Socs. I'm not sure how you spell it,"**

This made the gang members think. "Actually, I'm not sure anybody can." This caused Pony to laugh. This, of course, lead to the rest of the gang smiling. There hadn't heard Ponyboy laugh in a long time, and it was a sign that their plan might just work.

"**But, it's just an abbreviation for Socials, the jet set, the West- side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side. We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class."**

"Hey, maybe they have more money, but we have more than those Socs will ever have."

"**I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day, and an asset to society the next.**

"I never understood how they do that. One day everyone hates them, then the next everyone forgets. We do one thing bad, and we could cure cancer the next day, and people would still look at us as JD's and hoods." Darry still wasn't happy that his brothers had to live like this.

"**Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don't mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police."**

"You're darn right." This was of course, from Darry.

"Honestly, so would I Pony and I think all of us would." Soda said this. He knew how much the gang wanted Pony to get out of the neighborhood, and go to college and live a decent life. He couldn't do that if he got himself locked up.

"**Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave."**

There was a slight hint of strain in Darry's voice when he read about Mom and Dad. He missed them a whole lot.

"**So Soda and I stay out of trouble as much as we can, and we're careful not to get caught when we can't. I only man that most greasers do things like that, just like we wear our hair long, and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our shirttails out and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots. I'm not saying that wither Socs or greasers are better; that's just the way things are.**

'That shouldn't be the way things are' was the thought going through everyone's head.

"**I could have waited to go to the movies until Darry or Sodapop get off work. They would have gone with me. Or driven me there, or walked along, although Soda just can't sit still long enough to enjoy a movie and they bore Darry to death.**

"Yeah we would have," was Soda's reply.

"They do not!" was Darry's.

"**Darry thinks his life is enough without inspecting other people's."**

"I do not!"

"**Or I could have gotten one of the gang to come along, one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up with and consider family."**

"I'm just so touched." Two-Bit said pretending to get chocked up. Soda threw a pillow at his face.

"**We're almost as close as brothers; when you grow up in a tight-knit neighborhood like ours you get to know each other real well. If I had thought about it, I could have called Darry and he would have come by on his way home and picked me up, or Two- Bit Matthews- one of our gang- would have come to get me in his car if I had asked him, but sometimes I just don't use my head."**

"I'm mentioned! And sure kid, I would have come and picked you up if you asked."

"Thanks Two-Bit," Pony said.

"And you do use your head Pony." Darry told him.

"I know that now."

"**It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, 'cause I'm supposed to be smart; I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I don't use my head. Besides, I like walking."**

"You do use your head Pony. Well, most of the time."

"**I about decided I didn't like it so much, though, when I spotted a red Corvair trailing me."**

Everyone tensed knowing what was coming. Darry and Soda went over to sit by Pony.

"**I was almost two blocks from home then, so I started walking a little faster. I had never been jumped but I had seen Johnny after four Socs got a hold of him, and it wasn't pretty.**

Everyone looked somber at the mention of Johnny. They also looked murderous at the mention of the kids who jumped him.

"**Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that. Johnny was 16 then. I knew it wasn't any use though- the fast walking, I mean- even before the Corvair pulled up beside me and five Socs got out."**

Darry and Soda each put a hand on Pony's shoulders. Pony didn't mind. The jumping had scared him to death, and he didn't like reliving it.

"**I got pretty scared- I'm kinda small for fourteen even though I have a good build, and those guys were bigger than me. I automatically hitched my thumbs in my jeans and slouched, wondering if I could get away if I made a break for it. I remembered Johnny- his face all cut up and bruised, and I remembered how he had cried when we found him, half- conscious, in the corner lot. Johnny had it awful rough at home- it took a lot to make him cry.**

Everyone was relishing in their own memories of Johnny, and how much they wished he wouldn't have had to go through what he did at home.

"**I was sweating something fierce, although I was cold. I could feel my palms getting clammy and the perspiration running down my back. I get like that when I'm real scared."**

Darry and Soda tightened their grip on their baby brother. They hated the thought of him being jumped, and even though they knew he was okay, they still worried for him.  
**" I glanced around for a pop bottle or a stick or something- Steve Randle, Soda's best buddy, had once held off four guys with a busted pop bottle"**

"There's Steve!" Two-Bit said trying to lessen the tension in the room. It didn't work.

"**-but there was nothing. So I stood there like a bump on a log while they surrounded me. I don't use my head. They walked around slowly, silently, smiling.**

Everyone tensed, wondering what really happened to Pony before they got there.

"'**Hey, grease,' one said in an over-friendly voice. "We're gonna do you a favor greaser. We're gonna cut all that long greasy hair off." He had on a madras shirt. I can still see it. Blue madras. One of them laughed, then cussed me out in a low voice. I couldn't think of anything to say. There just isn't a whole lot you can say while waiting to get mugged, so I kept my mouth shut. "Need a haircut greaser?" The medium- sized blond pulled a knife out of his back pocket and flipped the blade open."**

The whole gang paled.

"**I finally thought of something to say. "No." I was backing up, away from that knife. Of course I backed right into one of them. They had me down in a second. They had my arms and legs pinned down and one of them was sitting on my chest with his knees on my elbows, and if you don't think that hurts, you're crazy. I could smell English Leather shaving lotion and stale tobacco, and I wondered foolishly if I would suffocate before they did anything. I was scared so bad I was wishing I would.**

Darry and Soda looked at each other concerned. That was not good.

"**I fought to get loose, and almost did for a second; then they tightened up on me and the one on my chest slugged me a couple of times."**

Darry and Soda started growling. Pony whispered, "It's fine, I'm fine." That seemed to calm them down just a bit.

"**So I lay still, swearing at them between gasps. A blade was held against my throught."**

Now the whole gang was growling. Pony didn't bother trying to calm them down. It wasn't worth it. Even if he managed to calm them down, they would just get angry again.

" "**How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?"**

**It occurred to me that they could kill me."**

Everyone paled. Pony had come so close to death so many times that week. No fourteen year old should have any experiences.

"**I went wild. I started screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone."**

"Good, that's exactly what you should do."

" **Someone put his hand over my mouth, and I bit it as hard as I could, tasting blood running through my teeth."**

"Pony, that's creepy. It sounds like something out of a vampire movie." Two-Bit said slightly freaked out.

"Vell, you never know. I could very well be one." He said in a Transylvanian accent Pony smiled and began licking his teeth. Starring hungrily at Two-Bits neck.

Two- Bit paled and scooted as far away from Ponyboy as he could.

"**I heard a muttered curse and got slugged again, and they were stuffing a handkerchief in my mouth. One of them kept saying, "Shut him up, for Pete's sake, shut him up!"**

**Then there were shouts and the pounding of feet, and the Socs jumped up and left me lying there gasping."**

"The gang to the rescue!" Two-Bit yelled, jumping up and down in his seat. He was again, hit with a pillow, but this time from Steve's direction.

"**I lay there and wondered what in the world was happening- people were jumping over me and running by me and I was too dazed to figure it out. Then someone had me under the armpits and was hauling me to my feet. It was Darry.**

"**Are you alright, Ponyboy?"**

**He was shaking me and I wished he'd stop, I was dizzy enough anyway."**

"Sorry Pone. I didn't realize."

"It's fine Dare."

"**I could tell it was Darry though, partly because of the voice and partly because Darry's always rough with me without meaning to be."**

Darry frowned. He had no idea he had been this rough. He was gonna have to really think about this one.

""**I'm okay. Quit shaking me Darry, I'm okay."**

**He stopped instantly. "I'm sorry."**

**He wasn't really. Darry isn't ever sorry for anything he does. **

"Yeah I am Pone. I'm sorry if it ever came across as if I didn't."

"It's fine Dare, seriously."

"**It seems funny to me that he should look just like my father and act exactly the opposite from him. My father was only forty when he died and he looked twenty-five and a lot of people thought Darry and Dad were brothers instead of father and son."**

"You should have seen the looks on the faces of the people who thought that when they figured out the truth." Darry laughed at the memories, but his smile was tinged with sadness at the memory of his father.

"**But they only looked alike- my father was never rough with anyone without meaning to be. Darry is six-feet-two, and broad- shouldered and muscular. He has bark- brown hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back- just like Dads- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice. They've got a determined set to them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty- tough, cool, and smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren't so cold."**

Darry frowned. He hadn't realized how Pony had seen him. He really needed to think on this.

"**He doesn't understand anything that is not plain hard fact. But he uses his head."**

"Honestly I'm not too sure I do anymore." Darry mumbled this to himself, not loud enough for anyone to hear.

"**I sat down again, rubbing my cheek where I'd been slugged the most. Darry jammed his fists in his pockets. "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?" They did. I was smarting and aching and my chest was sore and I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I wanted to start bawling, but you just don't say that to Darry."**

"Yes, you do. You can tell me anything, you know." Darry said. He hated knowing how he had acted.

"Yeah Darry, I know that know." Pony smiled. He knew Darry was trying, and he really liked it.

" "**I'm okay,"**

**Sodapop came loping back. By then I had figured that all the noise I had heard was the gang coming to rescue me. He dropped down beside me examining my head. **

"**You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?"**

**I only looked at him blankly "I did?"**

**He pulled out a handkerchief, wet the end of it with his tongue, and pressed it gently against the side of me head.**

"**You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."**

"**I am?"**

"**Look!" He showed me the handkerchief, reddened as if by magic. "Did they pull a blade on you?"**

**I remembered the voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" The blade must have slipped while he was trying to shut me up. "Yeah.""**

"I'm just glad it didn't slip anywhere else." Soda said sighing. He hated hearing about his little brother being scared and hurt.

"**Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know."**

"Why of course. I'm me." Soda laughed.

Everyone else laughed when he was hit with a pillow.

"**Not like Darry- Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street and watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the same time. He's got dark-gold hair that he combs back- long and silky and straight- and in the summer the sun bleaches it to a shining wheat-gold. His eyes are dark brown- lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be gentle and sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next. He has Dad's eyes, but Soda is one of a kind. He can get drunk in a drag race or dancing without ever getting near alcohol. In our neighborhood it's rare to find a kid who doesn't drink once in a while. But Soda never touches a drop- he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living. And he understands everybody.**

"Pony, I never knew you were so observant. It's both cool, and a bit freaky."

"**He looked at me more closely. I looked away hurriedly, because, if you want to know the truth, I was starting to bawl. I knew I was as white as I felt and I was shaking like a leaf.**

Soda pulled Ponyboy into a one armed hug. He was forgetting that this had happened a long time ago, and he wanted to protect Pony.

"**Soda just put his hand on my shoulder. "Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more."**

"**I know," I said, but the ground began to blur and I felt the tears running down my cheeks. I brushed them away impatiently. "I'm just a little spooked, that's all." I drew a quivering breath and quit crying. You just don't cry in front of Darry. Not unless you're hurt like Johnny had been that day we found him in the vacant lot. Compared to Johnny I wasn't hurt at all."**

"Maybe you weren't hurt that bad, but you were still hurt, and you were still scared, so don't go around thinking that your problems don't matter, just because they aren't as bad as someone else's, especially in cases like this." Darry was trying not to sound too harsh, but he didn't want Ponyboy thinking like that.

"**Soda rubbed my hair. "You're an okay kid, Pony."**

**I had to grin at him- Soda can make you grin no matter what, I guess its's because he's always grinning so much himself. "You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind."**

"Why thank you!" Soda said. Smiling like a maniac.

Pony just shook his head and laughed at his older brothers antics.

"**Darry looked as if he'd like to knock our heads together."**

"You better not." Two-bit said dead serious. He didn't like anyone, even his friends, hurting his other friends.

Darry gulped. He was really in for it this time.

""**You're both nuts."**

**Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit. "It seems to run in this family.""**

"Ha, yeah it does. And I think we infected you all." Soda laughed at the looks he got from his friends.

"**Darry stared at him for a second, then cracked a grin. Sodapop isn't afraid of him like everyone else and enjoys teasing him. I'd just as soon tease a full-grown grizzly; but for some reason, Darry seems to like being **teased by Soda.

**Our gang had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. They came running toward us now- four lean, hard guys. They were all as tough as nails and looked it. I had grown up with them, and they accepted me, even though I was younger, because I was Darry and Soda's kid brother, and I kept my mouth shut good.**

**Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. H was cocky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school. Steve's specialty was cars."**

"You know it." Steve was very proud of his skills with cars.

"**He could life a hubcap quicker and more quietly than anyone in the neighborhood, but he also knew cars upside-down and backward, and he could drive anything on wheels. He and Soda worked at the same gas station- Steve part time and Soda full time- and their station got more customers than any other in town. Whether that was because Steve was so good with cars or because Soda attracted girls like honey draws flies, I couldn't tell you."**

Soda and Steve looked at each other and smirked, "Both," they said in perfect unison.

**I liked Steve only because he was Soda's best friend. He didn't like me- he thought I was a tagalong and a kid;"**

"I didn't realize that." Soda mumbled with his head down.

"Come on buddy, we do like each other now." Steve said, trying to make Soda feel better.

"Yeah, come on Soda, don't feel bad."

"Yeah, alright."

"**Soda always took me with them when they went places if they weren't taking girls, and thet bugged Steve. It wasn't my fault; Soda always asked me, I didn't ask him. Soda doesn't think I'm a kid.**

**Two-Bit Mathews was the oldest of the gang and the wisecracker of the bunch. He was about six feet tall, stocky in build, and very proud of his long rusty-colored side-burns."**

"Well of course I am, there awesome!"

"**He had gray eyes and a wide grin, and he couldn't stop making funny remarks to save his life. You couldn't shut up that guy; he always had to get his two-bits worth in. Hence his name. even his teachers forgot hi real name was Keith,"**

"Call me that, and you will get hurt." Two-Bit said glaring at everyone.

"**And we hardly remembered he had one. Life was one big joke to Two-Bit. He was famous for shoplifting and his black handled switch blade(which he couldn't have acquired without his first talent), and he was always smarting off to the cops. He really couldn't help it. Everything he said was so irresistibly funny that he just had to let the police in on it to brighten up their dull lives. (That's the way he explained it to me.) He liked fights, blondes, and for some unfathomable reason, school."**

"Because school gives me a chance to meet blondes, and get into fights." Two-bit said.

"You know, by that logic, it actually does make sense."

"**He was still a junior at eighteen and a half and he never learned anything. He just went for kicks. I liked him real well because he kept us laughing at ourselves as well as at other things. He reminded me of Will Rogers0 maybe it was the grin.**

**If I had to pick the real character of the gang, it would be Dallas Winston-Dally."**

Everyone looked pained at the reminder of their old friend. What they didn't know was how close Ponyboy and Dally really were. They knew that Pony and Johnny were really close, but Pony and Dally were just as close.

Pony stifled a sob and ran out of the room. Darry and Soda looked at everyone else, who were wide eyed with surprise.

"Just give him a little bit of time. We can talk to him after this chapter." Soda said. He didn't know what was wrong with his baby brother, but he was still really grieving Johnny and Dally.

"Alright."

"**I used to like to draw his picture when he was in a dangerous mood, for then I could get his personality down in a few lines. He had an elfish face, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small sharp animal teeth and ears like a lynx. His hair was almost white it was so blond, and he didn't like haircuts, or hair oil either, so it fell over his forehead in wisps and kicked out in the back in tufts and curled behind his ears and along the nape of his neck. His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at age ten."**

"He never told us that! Who in their right mind arrests a ten year old! No wonder he was so cold."

"**He was tougher than the rest of us- tougher, colder, meaner. The shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood wasn't present in Dally. He was as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shepard's gang.**

**In New York, Dally blew off steam in gang fights, but here organized gangs are rarities- there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes. A rumble, when it's called, is usually born of a grudge fight, and the opponents just happen to bring their friends along. Oh, there are a few named gangs around, like the River Kings and the Tiber Street Tigers, but here in the Southwest there's no gang rivalry. So Dally, even though he could get into a good fight sometimes, had no specific thing to hate."**

"Until Johnny got jumped, then he hated the guys that did it." Steve said.

"**No rival gang. Only Socs."**

"Well yeah, there was that too."

"**And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to change that fact. Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter."**

"Maybe, that could have been a contributing factor."

"I really hate those stupid Socs."

"**He had quite a reputation. They have a file on him down at the police station. H had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids- he did everything. I didn't like him, but he was smart and you had to respect him.**

**Johnny Case was last and least."**

Everyone's mood was darkened even further. They had all loved Johnny. He didn't deserve to die.

"Poor Johnny."

"**If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and it lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny. H was the youngest, next to me, smaller than the rest, with a slight build. He had big black eyes in a dark tanned face; his hair was jet-black and heavily greased and combed to the side, but it was so long that it fell in shaggy bangs across his forehead. He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters. He was the gang's pet, everyone's kid brother. His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house."**

"No kid should have had to go through that. Ever." Darry just couldn't believe that someone could do that to a child.

"**I think he hated that worse than getting whipped. He would have run away a million times if we hadn't been there. If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.**

**I wiped my eyes hurriedly. "Didya catch 'em?"**

"**Nup. They got away this time the dirty…" Two-Bit went on cheerfully, calling the Socs every name he could think of or make up."**

"Language Two-Bit."

""**The kids okay?"**

"**I'm okay." I tried to think of something to say. I'm usually pretty quiet around people, even the gang. I changed the subject. "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."**

"**Good behavior. Got off early." Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny. Everyone sat down to have a smoke and relax. A smoke always lessens the tension. I had quit trembling and my color was back. The cigarette was calming me down."**

"He needs to stop smoking so much. We really need to talk to him about that." Soda turned to Darry. He nodded, he thought Pony was smoking to much too.

"**Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-lookin' bruise you got there, kid."**

**I touched my cheek gingerly. "Really?"**

**Two-Bit nodded sagely. Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."**

_**Tough **_**and **_**Tuff **_**are two different words. **_**Tough**_** is the same as rough; **_**Tuff**_** means cool, sharp- like a tuff-looking Mustang of a tuff record. In our neighborhood both are compliments.**

**Steve flicked his ashes at me. "What were you doin', walkin' by your lonesome?" Leave it to good old Steve to bring up something like that."**

"You could have been a bit nicer about it you know." Soda said.

"**I was coming home from the movies. I didn't think…"**

"**You don't ever think," Darry broke in, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No sirree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade."**

"Jeez, Darry, that was a little harsh."

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have been as rough with him as I was." 'If they think that was harsh, I really am dead.' He thought to himself.

"**I just stared at the hole in the toe of my tennis shoe. Me and Darry just didn't dig each other. I never could please him. He would have hollered at me for carrying a blade if I **_**had**_** carried one. If I brought home B's he wanted A's, and if I got A's, he wanted to make sure they stayed A's. If I was playing football, I should be studying, and if I was reading, I should be out playing football. He never hollered at Sodapop- not even when Soda dropped out of school or got tickets for speeding. He just hollered at me."**

"Darry, no offense, but you are being a hypocrite, and it's not really fair that every little thing Pony does is grounds for a lecture, but Soda never does anything wrong." Two-Bit didn't like the Darry was acting like this. Pony was his buddy, and he was going to stick up for him.

Darry hadn't realized how Pony had viewed him, and how he had acted, but as he looked back, Pony was right.

"**Soda was glaring at him. "Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons."**

**Soda always sticks up for me."**

"Go Soda!"

"**Darry said impatiently, "When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you- kid brother." But he laid off me. He always does when Sodapop tells him to. Most of the time.**

"**Next time get one of us to go with you Ponyboy," Two-Bit said. "Any of us will."**

"**Speakin' of movies"- Dally yawned, flipping away his cigarette butt- "I'm walkin' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody want to come and hunt some action?"**

**Steve shook his head. "Me and Soda are pickin' up Evie and Sandy for the game.""**

Soda sucked in a breath to keep himself from slippin' up. He was still upset about Sandy. Darry put his arm around him.

"**He didn't need to look at me the way he did right then. I want going to ask if I could come. I'd never tell Soda, because he really likes Steve a lot, but sometimes I can't stand Steve Randle. I mean it, sometimes I hate him."**

"We don't anymore, so don't even say it." Steve said pointing at Soda.

"**Darry sighed, just like I knew he would. Darry never had time to do anything anymore. "I'm working tomorrow night."**

**Dally looked at the rest of us. "How about y'all? Tow-Bit? Johnnycake, you and Pony wanta come?"**

"**Me and Johnny'll come," I said. I knew Johnny wouldn't open his mouth unless he was forced to. "Okay, Darry?"**

"**Yeah, since it ain't a school night." Darry was real good about letting me go places on the weekends. On school nights I could hardly leave the house.**

"**I was plannin' on getting boozed up tomorrow night," Tow-Bit said.**

"Of course you were Two-Bit."

""**If I don't, I'll walk over and find y'all."**

**Steve was looking at Dally's hand. His ring, which he had rolled a drunk senior to get, was back on his finger.**

"**You break up with Sylvia again?"**

"**Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail."**

**I thought of Sylvia and Evie and Sandy and Two-Bit's many blondes. They were the only kind of girls that would look at us, I thought. Tough, loud girls who wore too much eye makeup and giggled and swore too much. I liked Soda's girl Sandy just fine though. Her hair was natural blond and her laugh was soft, like her china-blue eyes. She didn't have a real good home or anything and was our kind-greaser- but she was a real nice girl."**

"Yeah, she was something special. Until she went and cheated on me." Soda said.

"**Still, lots of times I wondered what other girls were like. The girls who were bright-eyed and had their dresses a decent length and acted as if they'd like to spit on us if given the chance. Some were afraid of us, and remembering Dallas Winston, I didn't blame them. But most looked at us like we were dirt- gave us the same kind of look that the Socs did when they came by in their Mustangs and Corvairs and yelled "Grease!" at us. I wondered about them. The girls I mean… Did they cry when their boys were arrested, like Evie did when Steve got hauled in, or did they run out on them the way Sylvia did Dallas? But maybe their boys didn't get arrested or beaten up or busted up in rodeos."**

"Pony is one deep kid." Darry commented.

"Yeah, and to think we thought he never thought about girls." Soda laughed.

Two-Bit thought for a second, and then joined in.

"**I was still thinking about it while I was doing my homework that night. I had to read **_**Great Expectations **_**for English, and that kid Pip, he reminded me of us- the way he felt marked lousy because he want a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him. That happened to me once."**

"What?"

"**One time in biology I had to dissect a worm and the razor wouldn't cut, so I used my switchblade. The minute I flicked it out- I forgot what I was doing or I never would have done it- this girl right beside me kind of gasped and said, "They are right. You are a hood." That didn't make me feel so hot."**

"Pony never told us that story. I had no idea." Two-Bit said.

"He didn't tell us ether. That's just mean.'' Soda really wasn't happy that his little brother was being bullied.

"**There were a lot of Socs in that class- I get put into A classes because I'm supposed to be smart-"**

"Pony is smart," was murmured throughout the room.

"**and most of them thought it was pretty funny. I didn't, though. She was a cute girl. She looked real good in yellow."**

"Ah, sounds like Pony had a crush on her. That makes it hurt ten times as much." Two-Bit said.

"**We deserve a lot of our trouble, I thought. Dallas deserves everything he gets, and should get worse if you want the truth."**

"It almost sounds like Pony didn't like what Dallas did, and wanted him to straighten out." Soda said confused. Everyone thought about it.

"We definitely need to talk to Pony, and soon."

"**And Two-Bit- he doesn't really want or need half the things he swipes from stores. He just thinks it's fun to swipe everything that isn't nailed down."**

"It's true, but how did he notice that?"

"**I can understand why Soda and Steve get into drag races and fights so much, though- both of them have too much energy, too much feeling, with no way to blow it off."**

"He really is a smart kid if he figured that out."

""**Rub harder, Soda," I heard Darry mumbling. "You're gonna put me to sleep."**

**I looked through the door. Sodapop was giving Darry a back-rub. Darry is always pulling muscles; he roofs houses and he's always trying to carry two bundles of roofing up the ladder. I knew Soda would put him to sleep, because Soda can put about anyone out when he sets his head to it. He thought Darry worked too hard anyway. I did too."**

"Seriously Darry, you need to stop working yourself so hard." Soda said, worried about his brother.

"I know Soda, I'm gonna try." Darry said with a sigh.

"**Darry didn't deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty. He had been a real popular guy in school; he was captain of the football team and he had been voted Boy of the Year. But we just didn't have the money for him to go to college, even with the athletic scholarship he won. And now he didn't have time between jobs to even think about college. So he never went anywhere and never did anything anymore, except work out at gyms and go skiing with some old friends of his sometimes.**

**I rubbed my cheek where it had turned purple. I had looked in the mirror, and it did make me look though. But Darry had made me put a Band-Aid on the cut.**

**I remembered how awful Johnny had looked when he got beaten up."**

Everyone cringed at the memory. That was something they tried not to think about.

"**I had just as much right to use the streets as the Socs did, and Johnny had never hurt them. Why did the Socs hat us so much? We left them alone. I nearly went to sleep over my homework trying to figure it out."**

"He shouldn't have to worry about this stuff."

"**Soda pop, who had jumped into bed by this time, yelled sleepily for me to turn off the light and get to bed. When I finished the chapter I was on, I did.**

**Lying beside Soda, staring at the wall, I kept remembering the faces of the Socs as they surrounded me, that blue madras shirt the blond was wearing, and I could still hear a thick voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" I shivered.**

"**You cold Ponyboy?"**

"**A little," I liked. Soda threw one arm across my neck, He mumbled something drowsily. "Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you…he don't mean nothin'. He just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious…you dig Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy."**

"Really Soda? Brainy?" Two-Bit asked laughing.

"Common I was half asleep, cut me some slack."

"**It's just because you're the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?"**

"**Sure," I said, trying for Soda;s sake to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.**

"**Soda?"**

"**Yeah?"**

"**How come you dropped out?" I never have gotten over that. I could hardly stand it when he left school."**

"Man, I didn't knew it affected him like that."

" '**Cause I'm dumb. The only thngs I was passing anyway were auto mechanics and gym."**

"You're not dumb Soda! Stop saying that!" Darry exclaimed.

"I know, I know."

""**You're not dumb."**

"**Yeah I am. Shut up and I'll tell you something. Don't tell Darry though."**

"**Okay."**

"**I think I'm gonna marry Sandy. After she gets out of school and I get a better job and everything. I might wait till you get out of school, though. So I can still help Darry with the bills and stuff."**

"Gosh Soda, we never knew you felt that way about her."

"It's fine. This was a long time ago. Well two months, but it feels like a lot longer than that."

"I know what you mean." Darry said.

""**Tuff enough. Wait till I get out, though, so you can keep Darry off my back."**

"**Don't be like that, kid. I told you he don't mean half of what he says…"**

"**You in love with Sand? What's it like?"**

"**Hhhmmm." He sighed happily. "It's real nice."**

**In a moment his breathing was light and regular. I turned my head to look at him and in the moonlight he looked like some Greek god come to earth. I wondered how he could stand being so handsome."**

"Wow, that didn't sound weird at all." Soda commented.

Everyone laughed at this. It eased the tension in the room.

"**Then I sighed. I didn't quite get what he meant about Darry. Darry thought I was just another mouth to feed and someone to holler at. Darry love me? I thought of those hard, pale eyes. Soda was wrong for once, I thought. Darry doesn't love anyone or anything, except maybe Soda. I didn't hardly think of him as being human. I don't care, I lied to myself, I don't care about him either. Soda's enough, and I'd have him until I got out of school. I don't care about Darry. But I was still lying and I knew it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me."**

"I-I never knew how Pony felt. Was I really this bad?" Darry asked, his voice almost cracking.

"I hate to break it to you Superman, but yeah you were." This came from Sodapop.

"I never knew. Alright, let's talk to Pony before we read another chapter.

**Okay there is the first chapter. Sorry for the wait, it took me longer than I thought it would. If you guys want me to include the conversation with Pony tell me. And what do you think? Give me some suggestions.**

**Thanks! More chapters to come.**


	3. Chapter 3: Talking to Pony

**Okay guys here is chapter 2! Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! You are awesome!**

Darry and Soda walked into Pony's room, where he sat at his desk.

"Pone, are you okay?" Soda asked gently.

Pony nodded his head, but his face said differently. His lips were pressed into a tight line, and he scrunched his eyes closed, so that his brothers wouldn't see him cry.

"Oh, Pony, come on, talk to us."

"I-I just miss 'em Soda, really a lot, and it was bad enough that Johnny died, and then Dally right after. But it was my fault they died. If I hadn't run that night, the Socs wouldn't have attacked us, and then Windrixville wouldn't of happened, and, and then Johnny wouldn't have died, and th-then Dally wouldn't have had to die." By the end Pony was shaking uncontrollably and practically sobbing. He hadn't told anyone that he blamed himself since Dally had died, and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He got up and went over and sat on the bed. Soda and Darry looked at each other, stunned. They had no clue that Pony was that bad off.

"Listen to me Pone, none of this was your fault. Please believe me little buddy." Darry said.

"Dare, but it is my fault, everyone said so." Pony said, gulping air.

"Who would tell you that!" Soda cried out, furious that someone would tell his baby brother that he was responsible for the deaths of his two best friends.

"The Socs at school, the ones who were friends with Bob, they started following me home. They would tease me at school calling me names and asking me how I live with the guilt of three deaths on my head. I can't help but believe them." Pony was close to hyperventilating now.

Soda ran over and rapped him in his arms, "Shh, Shh, Pony you're alright. Their wrong."

"Soda, I don't know what to do. It's all my fault."

Pony just sat and cried. Darry came over and sat on his other side, and slung his arm around his little brothers. Two-Bit came in and sat in the desk chair. Pony and Two-Bit had gotten pretty close, and he didn't like that his buddy was so upset.

"Pony, none of this was your fault."

"Yeah it was, I should have never been born. "

"PONY! Where would you get that idea!" Darry exclaimed. He had no clue where his little brother was getting the idea that he had caused everything, but it was really starting to scare him.

"The Socs."

"Okay," Darry said pinching the bridge of his nose, "You are not to blame, for anything! Please listen to us Pony!"

"Can, can we please drop the subject for now? Please?" Pony was looking exhausted, and everyone was afraid that if they pushed too hard, he would close them out.

"Alright, yeah, but this conversation is not over."

"Thanks."

"Hey Pony, did you know Dally was arrested at age 10?"

"Well, yeah. He told me about it once."

The gang looked confused. Dally didn't really trust anyone, except maybe Johnny. If he had told Ponyboy something that he never told anyone else?

"Pony…How close were you with Dally?" Two-Bit asked. He figured they hadn't really talked to each other. Everyone thought they avoided each other as much as possible.

"He-"Pony swallowed, "He was my best friend.''

Everyone was once again stunned. No wonder he was affected by everything so much. Not only was he there for everything, but he was very close to both Dally and Johnny.

"Pony, we had no idea you two were even friends really."

"Yeah, it's cool, we never really hung out, but he was older and didn't treat me like a kid, and he actually enjoyed having me around. I talked to him a lot, and in turn, he talked to me, especially about New York."

"Okay, well, I don't think we have anything else we need to say. We will be talking to you about this though, Pony," Darry said sternly," but for now, let's keep reading.


	4. Chapter 4: Reading chapter two

**Thanks for all the reviews. It really inspires me to keep writing. If you write your own stories you know what I am talking about. To answer some questions, I am not going to change anything in the actual book, but in the way the characters interact with each other.**

**Enough of my rambling**

**Enjoy!**

**I do not own the outsiders**

**Just for a reference**

**Darry Seating chart Soda**

**Pony Lamp **

**Two-Bit Steve**

"I'll read next." Two-Bit said after everyone was settled back in the living room. Steve had been filled in on the conversation in Pony and Soda's room. Pony sat between Darry and Two-Bit, with his head down, still recovering.

"**Chapter 2," **Two-Bit read.

"**Dally was waiting for Johnny and me under the street light at the corner of Pickett and Sutton, and since we got there early, we had time to go over to the drugstore in the shopping center and goof around. We bought Cokes and blew the straws at waitresses, and walked around eyeing things that were lying out in the open until the manager got wise to us and suggested we leave."**

"You better not be stealing things," Darry reprimanded. He didn't want his brother taking after Dallas too much.

"Don't worry Darry. I didn't steal anything."

Everyone else was noticing the friendship between Pony and Dally more now that they knew to look for it.

"**He was too late though; Dally walked out with two packages of Kools under his jacket.**

**Then we went across the street and down Sutton a little way to the Dingo."**

"Oh, the Dingo, how we love you!" Two-Bit said laughing a little too hard. Darry reminded himself to check the fridge to see if any beers were missing.

"**There are lots of drive-ins in town- The Socs go to The Way Out and to Rusty's, and the greasers go to The Dingo and to Jay's. The Dingo is a pretty rough hangout; there's always a fight going on there and once a girl got shot."**

Ponyboy cringed. "Still have nightmares about that." He mumbled it under his breath, hoping no one would here, but of course Soda did.

"What! You were there when that happened!" He yelled.

"Uh, yeah, I was out running and I stopped for a drink. She and her boyfriend were fighting and the guy pulled a heater and got her, and it scared the crap out of me."

"**We walked around talking to all the greasers and hoods we knew, leaning in car windows or hopping into the back seats, and getting in on who was running away, and who was in jail, and who was going out with who, and who could whip who, and who stole what and when and why. We knew about everybody there. There was a pretty good fight while we were there between a big twenty-three-year-old greaser and a Mexican hitchhiker.**

Everyone burst out laughing. They could picture a giant burly dude, and a little scrawny dude, shouting at each other in different languages. The mental image was hilarious.

"**We left when the switchblades came out, because the cops would be coming soon and nobody in his right mind wants to be around when the fuzz show."**

"You better have."

"**We crossed Sutton and cut around behind Spencer's Special, the discount house, and chased two junior-high kids across a field for a few minutes;"**

"I would hate to be those kids, they must be scarred for life. Being chased across a field by Dallas Winston would be crazy." Two-Bit commented shuddering.

"**By then it was dark enough to sneak in over the back fence of the Nightly Double drive-in movie."**

"Why would you sneak in, if you don't have too? It's only a quarter." Steve asked.

Two-Bit laughed. "You will see in a minute."

"**It was the biggest in town and showed two movies every night, and on weekends four- you could say you were going to the Nightly Double and have time to go all over town."**

"And you would think this because…?" Darry asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh…well…you see…the thing is…" Pony stuttered trying to explain. Everyone laughed, and Ponyboy turned bright red.

"**We all had the money to get in- it only costs a quarter if you're not in a car- but Dally hated to do things the legal way. He liked to show that he didn't care whether there was a law or not. He went around trying to break laws."**

"I probably should have guessed that." Steve said, shrugging his shoulders.

Everyone laughed, agreeing with him. They all knew Dally well enough to know that he did everything illegally.

"**We went to the rows of seats in front of the concession stand to sit down. Nobody else was there except for two girls who were sitting down front. Dally eyed the coolly-"**

Everyone groaned. They knew he was going to try to pick one of them up.

"**-then walked down the aisle and sat right behind them. I had a sick feeling that Dally was up to his usual tricks, and I was right."**

Again, everyone groaned.

"**He started talking, loud enough for the two girls to hear. He started out bad and got worse."**

Again, cue groaning.

"**Dallas could talk awful dirty if he wanted to and I guess he wanted to then. I felt my ears get hot."**

"At least he doesn't like it. He is only 14, and he doesn't need to be hearing about this kind of stuff." Darry said.

Soda pop jumped in, "Darry we're greasers. He was going to figure it out anyway."

"**Two-Bit or Steve or even Soda would have gone right along with him, just to see if they could embarrass the girls, but that kind of kicks just didn't appeal to me."**

"Good, it shouldn't. And Soda, I don't want to catch you embarrassing girls like that, ya hear?"

"Yeah I hear ya Darry."

"**I sat there, struck dumb, and Johnny left hastily to get a Coke.**

**I wouldn't have felt so embarrassed if they had been greasy girls- I might even have helped old Dallas. But those two girls weren't our kind. They were tuff-looking girls- dressed sharp and really good looking. They looked about sixteen or seventeen. One had short dark hair, and the other had long red hair."**

"Hey, that sounds like Cherry!"

"That's because it is." Pony said.

"**The redhead was getting mad, or scared."**

"Knowing Cherry? The first one."

"**She sat straight and she was chewing hard on her gum. The other one pretended not to hear Dally. Dally was getting impatient."**

Cue even more groaning. They were really hoping this wasn't going to end how they thought it was going to. Sadly, they thought it probably would.

"**He put his feet up on the back of the redhead's chair, winked at me, and beat his own record for saying something dirty."**

Darry still didn't like it, but he didn't say anything.

"**She turned around and gave him a cool stare. "Take your feet off my chair and shut your trap.""**

"OOOOHHHHH BURN!" Both Soda and Two-Bit shouted. Pony just rolled his eyes.

"**Boy, she was good looking. I'd seen her before; she was a cheerleader at our school. I'd always thought she was stuck up."**

"Sounds like Pony has a crush!"

"**Dally merely looked at her and kept his feet where they were. "Who's gonna make me?"**

**The other one turned around and watched us. "that's the greaser the jockeys for the Slash J sometimes," she said, as if we couldn't hear her.**

**I had herd the same tone a million times: "Greaser...greaser…greaser." Oh yeah, I had heard that tone before too many times."**

Everyone, especially Darry, sighed. They had too, and they didn't like that Pony had to go through it as well.

"**What are they doing at a drive-in without a car? I thought, and Dallas said, "I know you two. I've seen you around rodeos."**

"**It's a shame you can't ride bull half as good as you can talk it," the redhead said coolly and turned back around."**

"Wow, I knew Cherry was feisty, but this is crazy. I didn't think I would ever see Dally fail this bad." This came from Two-Bit, of course.

"**That didn't bother Dally in the least. "You two barrel race, huh?"**

"**You'd better leave us alone," the redhead said in a biting voice, "or I'll call the cops."**

"Ha, somehow, I don't think that will scare him that much." Pony laughed. He was feeling a little better.

""**Oh, my, my"-Dally looked bored- "you've got me scared to death. You should see my record sometime, baby." He grinned slyly. "Guess what I've been in for?"**

"_**Please**_** leave us alone," she said. "Why cant you be nice and leave us alone?"**

"Dally? Nice? That's not going to happen!

"**Dally grinned roguishly. "I'm never nice."**

"Understatement," was muttered throughout the room.

"**Want a Coke?**

**She was mad by then. "I wouldn't drink it if I was starving in the desert. Get lost, hood!"**

**Dally merely shrugged and strolled off."**

"Ugh, he will be back."

"**The girl looked at me. I was half-scared of her. I'm half-scared of all nice girls, especially Socs."**

'Well now we know why Pony can't get himself a date. He's scared of Socs and doesn't like greasers!" Steve was picking on Pony, yes, but now they both knew it was all in good fun.

""**Are **_**you**_** going to start in on us?"**

**I shook my head, wide-eyed. "No."**

**Suddenly she smiled. Gosh, she was pretty. "You don't look the type. What's your name?"**

**I wished she hadn't asked me that. I hate to tell people my name for the first time. **

"**Ponyboy Curtis."**

**I waited for the "You're kidding!" or "That's you **_**real**_** name?" or one of the other remarks I usually get. Ponyboy's my real name and personally I like it."**

"So do we. If you think you got it bad, try telling them your name is Sodapop."

Pony laughed. He could picture that.

"**The redhead just smiled. "That's an original and lovely name."**

"**My dad was an original person," I said."**

"Yeah, no kidding." Soda commented.

""**I've got a brother named Sodapop, and it says so on his birth certificate."**

"**My name's Sherri, but I'm called Cherry because of my hair. Cherry Valance."**

"**I know," I said. "You're a cheerleader. We go to the same school."**

"And here comes the whole, "What but, you're too young to be in high school bit. For Pete's sake people skipping a grade is not that uncommon." Pony exclaimed.

"Yes, but for a greaser, it is." Darry said. Pony couldn't argue, because it was true.

""**You don't look old enough to be going to high school," the dark haired girl said.**

"**I'm not. I got put up a year in grade school."**

**Cherry was looking at me. "What's a nice, smart kid like you running around with trash like that for?"**

"Dally wasn't trash." Pony growled. Everyone was surprised at how dangerous Pony looked.

""**I'm a grease, same as Dally. He's my buddy."**

"Good. You always stick up for your buddies."

""**I'm sorry Ponyboy," she said softly. Then she said briskly, "Your brother Sodapop, does he work at a gasoline station? A DX, I think?"**

"**Yeah."**

"**Man you brother is one doll. I might have guessed you were brothers- you look alike."**

"Oh, sounds like Cheery has a crush too."

"**I grinned with pride- I don't think I look one bit like Soda, but it's not every day I hear Socs telling me they think my brother is a doll.**

"It should be every day." Soda mumbled.

Pony cracked up laughing.

""**Didn't he used to ride in rodeos? Saddle bronc?"**

"**Yeah. Dad made him quit after he tore a ligament, though."**

Soda subconsciously rubbed the spot of said ligament**. **That had really hurt.

""**We still hang around the rodeos a lot. I've seen you tow barrel race. You're good."**

"**Thanks," Cherry said, and the other girl, who was named Marcia, said, "How come we don't see your brother at school? He's not older than sixteen or seventeen is he?"**

Pony just scowled, he was still unhappy that Soda dropped out.

"**I winced inside. I've told you I can't stand it that Soda dropped out. "He's a dropout," I said roughly. "Dropout" made me think of some poor dumb-looking hoodlum wandering the streets breaking out street lights- it didn't fit my happy-go-lucky brother at all. It fitted Dally perfectly, but you could hardly say it about Soda."**

"It didn't really fit Dally either, to tell you the truth."

"**Johnny came back then and sat down beside me. He looked around for Dally, then managed a shy "Hi" to the girls and tried to watch the movie. He was nervous though. Johnny was always nervous around strangers.**

"He had good reason to be."

"**Cherry looked at him, sizing him up as she had me. Then she smiled softly, and I knew she had him sized up right.**

**Dally came striding back with an armful of Cokes. He handed one to each of the girls and sat down beside Cherry, "This might cool you off."**

"This isn't going to end well." Two-Bit said.

"**She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face."**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"You should have seen his face!" Pony said between laughs.

It took a minute for everyone to calm down.

""**That might cool **_**you**_**off, greaser. After you wash your mouth and learn to talk and act decent, I might cool off too."**

"Cherry always did have a smart mouth." Steve said.

"**Dally wiped the Coke off his face with his sleeve and smiled dangerously. IF I had been Cherry I would have beat it out of there. I knew that smile."**

"I would have been running for the hills." Two-Bit said.

""**Fiery, huh? Well, that's the way I like 'em." He started to put his arm around her, but Johnny reached over and stopped him."**

"Wait, little Johnnycakes, stood up to Dally?" Soda asked a bit awed.

"Yeah, it was amazing."

""**Leave her alone, Dally."**

"**Huh?" Dally was taken off guard. He stared at Johnny in disbelief."**

"I couldn't believe it either." Pony said. Then he frowned. He really did miss his buddies.

"**Johnny couldn't say "Boo" to a goose. Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said, "You heard me. Leave her alone."**

**Dallas scowled for a second."**

"Dally won't hurt him, not Johnny."

"**If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation."**

"Dally always did like to beat on me. He knew it would teach me how to defend myself." Ponyboy mumbled. Luckily no one heard him.

"**You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do. One time, in a dime store, a guy told him to move over at the candy counter. Dally had turned around and belted him so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A complete stranger, too."**

"And that is why, I will always be a little bit scared of Dally." Said Two-Bit.

"**But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet too. Dally got up and stalked off, his fists jammed in his pockets** **and a frown on his face. He didn't come back.**

"Jeez, go Johnny!"

"**Cherry sighed in relief. "Thanks. He had me scared to death."**

"Well she sure didn't show it." Darry said.

"**Johnny managed an admiring grin. "You sure didn't show it. Nobody takes to Dally like that."**

**She smiled. "From what I saw, you do."**

**Johnny's ears got red. I was still staring at him. It had taken more nerve for him to say what he'd said to Dally- Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I had never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero."**

"I can see why he would be like that. Dally protected Johnny, and me." Pony said sadly.

Everyone looked surprised. They really had been blind.

"**Marcia grinned at us. She was a little smaller than Cherry. She was cute, but that Cherry Valance was a real looker."**

"We get it Pony, you love her. You don't need to keep telling us." Two-Bit teased.

Pony smacked him in the face with a pillow.

""**Y'all sit up here with us. You can protect us."**

**Johnny and I looked at each other. He grinned suddenly, raising his eyebrows so that they disappeared under his bangs. Would we ever have something to tell the boys! His eyes said plainly."**

"That conversation didn't exactly go as planned."

"**We had picked up two girls, and classy ones at that. Not any greasy broads for us, but real Socs. Soda would flip when I told him."**

"Yeah, I probably would have."

""**Okay," I said nonchalantly, "might as well."**

**I sat between them, and Johnny sat next to Cherry.**

"**How old are y'all?" Marcia asked.**

"**Fourteen," I said.**

"**Sixteen," said Johnny.**

"**That's funny," Marcia said, "I thought you were both…"**

"**Sixteen," Cherry finished for her."**

"Good. Johnny hated it when people thought he was younger than his actual age." Darry commented.

"**I was grateful. Johnny looked fourteen and he knew it and it bugged him something awful.**

**Johnny grinned. "How come y'all ain't scare of us like you were Dally?"**

**Cherry sighed. "You two are too sweet to scare anyone."**

"Yeah Pony, you're too kind." Steve sneered.

Pony just laughed and threw a pillow at him.

Steve caught it and threw it back.

Pony did not catch the pillow.

"**First of all, you didn't join in Dallas's dirty talk, and you made him leave us alone. And when we asked you to sit up here with us, you didn't act like it was an invitation to make out for the night."**

Pony's face was red as a tomato.

Everyone just laughed at his facial expression.

"**besides that, I've heard about Dallas Winston, and he looked as hard as nails and twice as tough. And you two don't look mean."**

"Yeah, that was Dally." Pony said.

""**Sure," I said tiredly," we're young and innocent."**

"**No," Cherry said slowly, looking at me carefully, "not innocent. You've seen too much to be innocent. Just not…dirty."**

"She's right sadly." Darry whispered to Soda. Soda just nodded glumly. His brother had seen too much to be innocent.

""**Dally's okay," Johnny said defensively and I nodded. You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang anymore. It's a pack. A snarling, distrustful, bickering pack like the Socs in their social clubs or the street gangs in New York or the wolves in the timber. "He's tough, but he's a cool old guy."**

Everyone sat and thought about that for a minute.

"Wow Pony, that was amazing." Soda said, amazed at his brothers skill as a writer.

"Why thank you."

"It's true too." Said Darry.

""**He'd leave you alone if he knew you," I said, and that was true. When Steve's cousin form Kansas came down, Dally was decent to her and watched his swearing. We all did around nice girls who were the cousinly type. I don't know how to explain it- we try to be nice to the girls we see once in a while, like cousins or the girls in class; but we still watch a nice girl go by on the street and say all kinds of lousy stuff about her. Don't ask me why. I don't know why."**

"You don't act like that Pony." Two-Bit said.

"Yeah, I just don't see the point in it."

""**Well," Marcia said with finality, "I'm glad he doesn't know us."**

"**I kind of admire him," Cherry said softly, so only I heard, and then settled down to watch the movie. Oh, yeah, we found out why they were without a car. They'd come with their boyfriends, but walked out on them when they found out the boys had brought some booze along. They boys had gotten angry and left."**

Pony paled at the mention of those boys.

""**I don't care if they did." Cherry sounded annoyed. "It's not my idea of a good time to sit in a drive-in and watch people get drunk."**

**You could tell by the way she said it that her idea of a good time was probably high-class and probably expensive. They'd decided to say and see the movie anyway. It was one of those beach-party movies with no plot and no acting but a lot of girls in bikinis and some swinging songs, so it was all right."**

"Those are my favorite movies." Two-Bit said with a smile.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Of course they are." Pony said.

"**We were all four sitting there in silence when suddenly a strong hand came down on Johnny's shoulder and another on mine and a deep voice said, "Okay, greasers, you've had it."**

Everyone paled, except Pony and Two-Bit.

"Please don't let them get hurt." Soda whispered.

"**I almost jumped out of my skin. It was like having someone leap out from behind a door and yell "Boo!" at you.**

**I looked fearfully over my shoulder-"**

Everyone subconsciously leaned in closer.

"**And there was Two-Bit grinning like a Chessy Cat."**

"Two-Bit! You have got to be the biggest idiot ever!" Darry yelled.

"I know, I know."

""**Glory, Two-Bit, scare us to death!" He was good at voice imitations and had sounded for all the world like a snarling Soc. Then I looked at Johnny.**

"Oh, No, Johnny is going to freak." Steve said.

"**His eyes were shut and he was as white as a ghost. His breath was coming in smothered gasps. Two-Bit knew better than to scare Johnny like that."**

"Yeah, but you didn't use your head." Soda scolded.

Pony would have laughed if the mood wasn't so serious. Soda sounded so much like Darry.

"**I guess he'd forgotten. He's kind of scatterbrained. Johnny opened his eyes and said weakly, "Hey, Two-Bit."**

"**Two-Bit messed up his hair, "Sorry kid," he said, "I forgot."**

**He climbed over the chair and plopped down beside Marcia. "Who's this, you great-aunts?"**

"**Great-grandmothers, twice removed." Cherry said smoothly.**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Cherry, that was amazing." Soda said.

"Soda you're talking to a book." Steve said.

"Shut up."

"**I couldn't tell if Two-Bit was drunk or not. It's kind of hard to tell with him- he acts boozed up sometimes even when he's sober.**

"What is this sometimes?" Soda laughed.

"**He cocked one eyebrow up and the other down, which he always does when something puzzles him, or bothers, or when he feels like saying something smart. "Shoot, you're a ninety-six if you're a day."**

"**I'm a night," Marcia said brightly.**

"Looks like Marcia has some sass in her too."

"**Two-Bit stared at her admiringly. "Brother, you're a sharp one. Where'd you two ever get to be picked up by a couple of greasy hoods like Pony and Johnny?"**

"**We really picked them up," Marcia said. "We're really Arabian slave traders and we're thinking about shanghaiing them. They're worth ten camels apiece at least."**

Everyone laughed. Marcia could be funny when she wanted to be.

""**Five," Two-Bit disagreed. "They don't talk Arabian, I don't think. Say somethin' in Arabian Johnnycake."**

"**Aw, cut it out!" Johnny broke in. "Dally was bothering them and when he left they wanted us to sit with them to protect them. Against wisecracking greasers like you, probably."**

**Two-Bit grinned, because Johnny didn't usually get sassy like that."**

"Yeah, what's up with Johnny?" Steve asked Pony.

"I really don't know. I guess he just trusted the girls."

"**We thought we were doing good if we could get him to talk at all. Incidentally, we don't mind being called greaser by another greaser. It's just kind of a playful thing them.**

"**Hey, where is ol' Dally anyways?"**

"**He went hunting some action- booze or dames or a fight. I hope he doesn't get jailed again. He just got out."**

"Honestly, I just got my buddy back, and I didn't want him getting in trouble." Pony admitted.

""**He'll probably find the fight," Two-Bit stated cheerfully. "That's why I came over. Mr. Timothy Shepard and Co. are looking for whoever so kindly slashed their car's tires, and since Mr. Curly Shepard spotted Dallas doing it…well…Does Dally have a blade?"**

"Oh joy. He's definitely going to have a fight on his hands." Steve said.

""**Not that I know of," I said. "I think he's got a piece of pipe, but he busted his blade this morning."**

"**Good. Tim'll fight fair as long as Dally don't pull a blade on him. Dally shouldn't have any trouble."**

"Good."

"**Cherry and Marcia were staring at us. "You don't believe in playing rough or anything do you?"**

"Here we go." Pony said, exasperated.

"What?" Darry asked.

"We had to explain all the rules for a fair fight to them." Pony answered.

""**A fair fight isn't rough," Two-Bit said. "Blades are rough. So are chains and heaters and pool sticks and rumbles. Skin fighting isn't rough. It blows off steam better than anything. There's nothing wrong with throwing a few punches. Socs are rough. They gang up on one or two, or they rumble each other with their social clubs. Us greasers usually stick together, but when we do fight among ourselves, it's a fair fight between the two."**

"You got that right!" Steve exclaimed.

"**And Dally deserves whatever he gets, 'cause slashed tires ain't no joke when you've got to work to pay for them. He got spotted too, and that was his fault. Our one rule, besides Stick together, is Don't get caught. He might get beat up, he might not. Either way there's not going to be any blood feud between our outfit and Shepard's. If we needed them tomorrow they'd show. If Tim beats Dally's head in, and then tomorrow asks us for help in a rumble, we'll show. Dally was getting kicks. He got caught. He pays up. No sweat."**

"Wow, Two-Bit actually said something intelligent. The world is ending!" Pony yelled.

Two-Bit hit him with a pillow.

""**Yeah, boy," Cherry said sarcastically, "real simple."**

"**Sure," Marcia said, unconcerned. "If he gets killed or something, you just bury him. No sweat."**

"**You dig okay, baby." Two-Bit grinned and lit a cigarette."**

Pony groaned. He hadn't had a cigarette since they started reading, and he really wanted one.

Steve threw him one.

"Thank you!" Pony said before immediately lighting up.

""**Anyone want a weed?"**

**I looked at Two-Bit admiringly. He sure put things into words good. Maybe he was still a junior at eighteen and a half, and maybe his sideburns were too long, and maybe he did get boozed up too much, but he sure understood things.**

**Cherry and Marcia shook their heads at his offering of cigarettes, but Johnny and I reached for one. Johnny's color was back and his breathing was regular, but his hand was shaking ever so slightly. A cigarette would steady it.**

Pony took a drag on his weed. He agreed with his past self. Cigarettes calmed your nerves

""**Ponyboy, will you come with me to get some popcorn?" Cherry asked.**

**I jumped up.**

"Eager aren't ya Pone?" Soda teased.

"Oh, shut up." Pony said, but he was blushing.

""**Sure. Y'all want some?"**

"**I do," said Marcia. She was finishing the Coke Dally had given her. I realized then that Marcia and Cherry weren't alike. Cherry had said she wouldn't drink Dally's coke if she was starving, and she meant it. It was the principle of the thing. But Marcia saw no reason to throw away a perfectly good Coke.**

"Exactly. Why would you throw away a perfectly good Coke? It's Coke!" Two-Bit yelled.

""**Me too," said Two-Bit. He flipped me a fifty-cent piece. "Get Johnny some, too. I'm buyin'," he added as Johnny started to reach into his jeans pocket.**

**We went to the concession stand and, as usual, there was a line a mile long, so we had to wait. Quite a few kids turned to look at us- you didn't see a kid grease and a Socy cheerleader together often. Cherry didn't seem to notice."**

"That's one of the things I always liked about her." Darry commented. He really did like Cherry. She understood things.

""**Your friend- the one with the sideburns- he's okay?"**

Two-Bit pretended to be offended. "She had to ask?"

""**He ain't dangerous like Dallas if that's what you mean. He's okay."**

**She smiled and her eyes showed that her mind was on something else. "Johnny...he's been hurt bad sometime, hasn't he?"**

Everyone shuddered at the reminder of that day.

"**It was more of a statement than a question. "Hurt and scared."**

"**It was the Socs," I said nervously, because there were plenty of Socs milling around and some of them were giving me funny looks, as if I shouldn't be with Cherry or something. And I don't like to talk about it either-Johnny getting beat up, I mean. But I started in, talking a little faster than I usually do because I don't like to think about it either.**

Everyone looked down. They didn't like thinking about it either.

Pony squeezed his eyes shut. He hated it when his buddies were hurt, and Johnny had been really bad off.

"**It was almost four months ago. I had walked down to the DX station to get a bottle of pop and to see Steve and Soda, because they'll always buy me a couple bottles and let me help work on the cars. I don't like to go on weekends because then there is usually a bunch of girls down there flirting with Soda- all kinds of girls, Socs too. I don't care too much for girls yet.**

"Sure Pony. Didn't you just prove yourself wrong with Cherry?" Two-Bit teased trying to lighten the mood in the room.

Pony just looked at him. Two-Bit saw how miserable his friend was, and he stopped.

"**It was a warmish spring day with the sun shining bright, but it was getting chilly and dark by the time we started for home. We were walking because we had left Steve's car at the station. At the corner of our block there's a wide, open field where we play football and hang out, and it's often a site for rumbles and fist fights. We were passing it, kicking rocks down the street and finishing out last bottle of Pepsi, when Steve noticed something lying on the ground.**

Pony let a single tear slide down his cheek. 'here it comes' he thought.

"**He picked it up. It was Johnny's blue-jeans jacket- the only jacket he had.**

"**Looks like Johnny forgot his jacket," Steve said, slinging it over his shoulder to take it by Johnny's house. Suddenly he stopped and examined it more carefully. There was a stain the color of rust across the collar. He looked at the ground. There were some more stains on the grass. He looked up and across the field with a stricken expression on his face."**

"Stricken was an understatement." Soda mumbled.

"**I think we all heard the low moan and saw the dark motionless hump on the other side of the lot at the same time. Soda reached him first. Johnny was lying face down on the ground. Soda turned him over gently, and I nearly got sick. Someone had beaten him badly."**

Pony looked about ready to be sick right then. He choked back a sob. Soda was across the room, from where he had been sitting with Steve, to Pony's side, in a split second.

"Shhh, Shhh, Pony it's alright, it's the past." Soda said gently, wrapping his arms around his baby brother.

Pony wasn't calming down, so Soda just signaled for Two-Bit to keep reading.

"**We were used to seeing Johnny banged up- his father clobbered him around a lot, and although it made us madder than heck, we couldn't do anything about it. But those beatings had been nothing like this. Johnny's face was cut up and bruised and swollen, and there was a wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone. He would carry that scar all his life. His white T-shirt was splattered with blood.**

Pony shivered at the memory. Soda just held him closer, even though he himself was shaking. Darry wrapped his arms around both his brothers.

"**I just stood there, trembling with sudden cold. I thought he might be dead; surely nobody could be beaten like that and live."**

"Scariest moment of my life," Pony mumbled softly, "Well, at least I thought it was."

"**Steve closed his eyes for a second and muffled a groan as he dropped on his knees beside Soda.**

**Somehow the gang sensed what had happened."**

"Of course we did. We protect our brothers." Two-Bit said smiling, even though even he had tears in his eyes.

"**Two-Bit was suddenly there beside me, and for once his comical grin was gone and his dancing gray eyes were stormy. Darry had seen us from our porch and ran toward us, suddenly skidding to a halt. Dally was there too, swearing under his breath, and turning away with a sick expression on his face. I wondered about it vaguely. Dally had seen people killed on the streets on New York's West Side. Why did he look sick now?**

"Because he knew, and really cared about Johnny more than he ever did with anyone in New York." Pony said, very quietly.

""**Johnny?" Soda lifted him up and held him against his shoulder. He gave the limp body a slight shake. "Hey, Johnnycake."**

**Johnny didn't open his eyes, but there came a soft question. "Soda?"**

"**Yeah, it's me," Sodapop said. "Don't talk. You're gonna be okay.""**

Ponyboy chuckled darkly.

"Pony, what in the name is funny?" Soda asked.

"It's just the irony of it all. He never was truly okay, and as soon as he started to get better, he got jumped again, killed a guy, and died. Makes you wonder if it's even worth it, to try to move on from something, knowing that they will just come for you again."

Soda looked at Darry and the rest of the gang. Everyone had wide eyes. Ponyboy shouldn't be thinking like that.

""**There was a whole bunch of them," Johnny went on, swallowing, ignoring Soda's command. "A blue Mustang full…I got so scared…" He tried to swear, but suddenly started crying, fighting to control himself, then sobbing all the more because he couldn't. I had seen Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man and never let out a whimper. That made it worse to see him break now. Soda just held him and pushed Johnny's hair back out of his eyes. "It's okay, Johnnycake, they're gone now. It's okay."**

Soda was doing the exact same thing to Pony now. Pony just couldn't bear to think of his best friend in so much pain. The only reason he had made it through his death was that he told himself he wasn't in anymore pain, and that belief was faltering and Ponyboy was breaking.

Soda just sat holding him, scared to death for his little kid brother.

"**Finally, between sobs, Johnny managed to gasp out his story. He had been hunting our football to practice a few kicks when a blue Mustang had pulled up beside the lot. There were four Socs in it. They had caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand- that's what had cut Johnny up so badly. It wasn't just that they had beaten him half to death- he could take that. They had scared him. They had threatened him with everything under the sun. Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing his parents fight all the time. Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter; it was killing Johnny. He had never been a coward. He was a good man in a rumble."**

"He saved my life more than a few times in a fight." Pony said. Whenever he was in trouble, Johnny was beside him, helping him out. That's one of the things he missed most about him.

"**He stuck up for the gang and kept his mouth shut good around cops. But after the night of the beating, Johnny was jumpier than ever. I didn't think he'd ever get over it. Johnny never walked by himself after that. And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade. He'd use it too, it he ever got jumped again. They had scared him that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him."**

"Guess I was right. He did. I wish I wasn't." Pony mumbled into Soda's chest.

"**Nobody was ever going to beat him like that again. Not over his dead body…**

**I had nearly forgotten that Cherry was listening to me. But when I came back to reality and looked at her, I was startled to find she was as white as a sheet.**

"**All Socs aren't like that," she said "You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all of us are like that."**

"**Sure," I said.**

"**That's like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston. I'll bet he's jumped a few people." **

**I digested that. It was true. Dally had jumped people. He had told us stories about muggings in New York that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. But not all of us were that bad."**

"Well, I would sure hope not.'' Steve said.

"**Cherry no longer looked sick, only sad. "I'll bet you think the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the West –side Socs."**

"Well yes, I was under the impression that is what the term Soc means." Two-Bit said confused.

"**I'll tell you something Ponyboy, and it may come as a surprise. We have troubles you've never even heard of. You want to know something?" **

**She looked me straight in the eye.**

"**Things are rough all over."**

"**I believe you," I said. "We'd better get back out there with the popcorn or Two-Bit'll think I ran off with his money."**

**We went back and watched the movie through again. Marcia and Two-Bit were hitting it off fine."**

"Shame, it didn't work out. She was good looking too." Two-Bit said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"**Both had the same scatterbrained sense of humor. But Cherry and Johnny and I just sat there, looking at the movie and not talking. I quit worrying about everything and thought about how nice it was to sit with a girl without having to listen to her swear or beat her off with a club. I knew Johnny liked it, too. He didn't talk to girls much. Once, while Dallas was in reform school, Sylvia had started hanging on to Johnny and sweet-talking him and Steve got a hold of her and told her if she tried any of her tricks with Johnny he'd personally beat the tar out of her."**

"If you hadn't it wouldn't have turned out well when Dally got back." Soda commented.

"**Then he gave Johnny a lecture on girls and how a sneaking little broad like Sylvia would get him into a lot of trouble. As a result, Johnny never spoke to girls much, but whether that was because he was scared of Steve or because he was shy, I couldn't tell.**

"I think it was just that he was shy."

"**I got the same lecture from Two-Bit after we'd picked up a couple of girls downtown one day. I thought it was funny, because the girls are one subject even Darry thinks I use my head about. And it really had been funny, because Two-Bit was half-crocked when he gave me the lecture, and he told me some stories that made me want to crawl under the floor or something."**

"Two-Bit," Darry sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose," I don't care if you were drunk, you just don't tell that kind of stuff to a thirteen year old."

"Yeah Two-Bit, you're taking away his poor innocence," Steve teased.

Two-Bit just hit him with a pillow.

"**But he had been talking about girls like Sylvia and the girls he and Dally and the rest picked up at drive-ins and downtown; he never said anything about Socy girls."**

"Well, one, because I never thought you would get one, and two, because I was drunk."

"**So I figured it was all right to be sitting there with them. Even if they did have their own troubles. I really couldn't see what Socs would have to sweat about-good grades, good cars, good girls, madras and Mustangs and Corvairs- Man, I thought, if I had worries like that I'd consider myself lucky.**

"No, I wouldn't."

"**I know better now."**

"And that's it." Two-Bit said.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Steve announced.

Soda agreed with a nod of his head and hurried to the kitchen to fix supper.

"Oh great Soda's cooking, which means it will probably be green chicken, blue mashed potatoes, and red corn." Darry said.

"Woo Hoo!" Both Two-Bit and Pony said. Pony said it sarcastically, and Two-Bit did not.

"Well, let's eat."

Okay, 6,949 words later and 19 pages, I am done with this chapter. Please review! I will get working on the next chapter tomorrow, because it's pretty late.


	5. Authors note, sorry!

Hey guys!

Firstly I want to apologize for making you think this was a chapter, and I promise I am working on it. I know I haven't updated in a while and I feel terrible, but my computer crashed and my entire hard drive was wiped, so all of my stories were gone, and I had to start the chapter over again. So, I will continue to work on it, and hopefully have it up sometime in the near future.

I also want to thank you guys for all the love this story has gotten, all the reviews and feedback really do mean a lot to me, and give me the encouragement I need to continue writing this story.

Again, sorry this wasn't an actual update, I hope to get one up soon!

Thanks!

-Tribute324


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